Method of making wedge-heel blocks.



E. E. WINKLBY. METHOD 0F MAKING WBDGE HEEL BLOCKS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 1908.

Lgjgo Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, 0F LYNN. MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF MAKING WEDGE-HEEL BLOCKS.

Application filed June 1, 1908.

T o all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making lVedge-Heel Blocks: and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a method of making heel blocks in multiple, and more )articularly to making wedge heel blocks which are finished into the type of heel known commercially as military, Cuban. Louis, etc.

ln making wedge heels it has been eustomary heretofore in one case to fashion them from a single piece of material, as a block of wood, or, in another case, to make heel blanks by superposing on each other a plurality of lifts of suitable material dinked out to the general contour of a finished heel -lift vand gain the desired greater height at the back of the heel by utilizing a short lift, generally wedge-shaped, which is disposed at the back of the heel and about midway of itsheight. In the former case, although the single heel blocks ca n be made in multiple from large blocks of wood, these heel blocks, after having been sawed or otherwise cut to an angular form must then be further out to wedge shapeand to the desired finished contour, as woodA heels cannot be placed in a compressing machine and shaped by pressure. This is an expensive and wasteful method of making wedgerheels in multiple. In the latter case the heel blanks, although capable of being finally molded to shape by a single compression, must be made singly by assembling together aA series of lifts in each instance, which though less wasteful of stock is slow and laborious. Also, such heelsrequire a reat many cutting dies in the making, which is expensive.

The object of the present inventionis to )rovide a method of making .wedge heel olbcks in multiple which, while preserving the advantage of producing a heel having initiall y the desired pitch, also allows of less waste ofheel stock material than is incurred by'other methods. The method of the present invention also effects a. saving of time, as the `heel blocks are made in multiple in- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

Serial No. 436,093.

stead of singly, which is distinctly advantageous. These advantages are particularly of value when making heel blocks from the cheaper heel stock materials other than leather.

In practicing the invention a heel-forming block is frst made which includes a sheet or sheets of heel stock material having preferably an area sufficient to produce a large number of heel blocks although for a lesser number of heel blocks sheets having one dimension substantially equal to the added mean lengths of two, or multiples of two, heels of any given sii/.e may be used. In the preferred method a plurality of these sheets are superposed on each other, face to face, to obtain the proper height of heel at the breast, and at a selected point, preferablyT about midway between the sheets, a series of strips of heel stock material are laid side by side to provide, as will be seen hereinafter, the excess height desired at the back of the heel. The sheets and strips are secured together to form a solid block in any convenient manner, for instance by nailing at suitable points, but preferably by the use of a suitable gum. The heel-forming block composed of the combination of sheets and strips may then be marked for cutting into single heel blocks in such manner that when the heel-forming block is cut up the strips are so subdivided that each sin le heel block comprises a plurality f angu ar heel lifts haring incorporated therewith a lift of less area so proportioned and located as to produce a wedge heel block from the whole combination. Preferably the severing is performed by cutting through the heelforming block on right lines which will produce single heelY blocks of angular formation. Preferably also, though not necessarily, one of the cuts through the strips is ma de diagonally to the surface, thereby 4pro-l ducing the desired pitch at the back of the heel. Before these heel blocks are compressed into the form of the commercial heel blank it is desirable,if not essential, that they be shaped to a rounded surface at the back. This is accomplished by trimming oli' the excess material at the back corners of the heel block to produce'a rounded contour at that portion of the lat-V eral surface of the heel block. The heel blocks thus shaped may .then be compressed into a commercial heel blank having the desired formationV and proper heel seat.

The present invention is preferably practiced in connection with the use of heel stock material other than leather, such, for instance, as leather-board or a similar leather or paper composition, although heel stock material of any character may be utilized. For convenience in nomenclature the heel stock material, of whatever character, will hereinafter be referred to as leatherboard simply. The method of making wedge heel blocks, outlined above, affords an organized method of manufacture of heels from the cheaper heel stock materials, which is very simple and enables the heels to be produced with greater economy, while yet retaining in the product the more desirable qualities of heels manufactured from the more costly materials.

The present invention consists in the method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple, the4` preferred manner of practicing which is herein described and defined both broadly and in detail in the appended claims.

The invention may readily be practiced by hand, using'any convenient form of hand cutters, or, if found desirable, suitable power-actuated devices may be used.

The invention will be most readily under- Stood by a reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred manner of practising the invention, in which Figure 1 is a perspective of a portion of a forming plate or block having thereon a partiallybuilt-up heel-forming-block of the desired size; Fig. 2- is an end view,in elevation, of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view, similar to Fig. 2, but showing a completely built-up heel-formingblock between top and bottom forming plates or blocks; Fig. 4 is a perspective (broken away) of the heel-forming block after it has been secured together and removed from between the forming plates; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are perspectives of the sections formed in the steps of severing the heel-forming block into single Wedge heel blocks; Fig. 7 showing a completely severed single wedge heel block; and Figs. 8 and 9 show respectively a single heel block shaped at the back, and a heel block compressed into the form of a commercial wedge heelblank.

kIn practising the preferred method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple contemplated by this invention, a heel-forming block is rst built up, the block being of a suiiicient size to form therefrom a large number of single heel blocks; this heelforming block is then severed in any convenient manner, into single heel blocks of angular formation; the heel blocks so produced are then shaped to the general form of a heel by trimming to a rounded surface at the back; and finally the shaped heel blocks are preferably compressed into the form of what is known commercially as a heel blank. In the following description the preferred method of making the abovementioned heel-forming block will first be dealt with. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that a block of extended area so constituted as to be capable of being cut up into a plurality of heel blocks of a proper wedge formation by a simple severance on right lines is a highly meritorious article of manufacture and would find great favor with the trade.

ln the preferred method of making the heel-forming block a number of sheets of leatherboard 2, in practice about four feet square, are superposed on each other face to face, and placed on a forming plate 4. Preferably these sheets of leatherboard are suitably gummed, either before or after being placed onthe forming plate, as may be most convenient, so that they will adhere together. The number of sheets 2 which are first superposed on each other form together a block of about the thickness of one-half the height of the heel which is to be made. Thereafter there are laid side by side on the block formed by the sheets 2', a series of strips 6, preferably of the same material as the sheets 2, although this is not essential, said strips extending across the sheets and substantially parallel to each other, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. By preference the strips 6 are lozenge-shaped in cross section, as most clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and are laid at intervals on the sheets 2, although their longitudinal edges may be placed in contact if desired. The heel-forming block now has the appearance shown in Fig. l. Thereafter a second series of sheets 8 similar in conformation to the sheets 2 are superposed on each other and placed on top of the strips 6. A second forming plate i 10 is then placed on the sheets 8 and the heel-forming block and forming plates then` have the appearance shown in Fig. 3, there being open spaces 11 between the strips 6. It should, of course, be understood that the particular sequence in which the constituent parts ofthe heel-forming block are rintroduced between the forming plates is entirely immaterial, the importance residing in the relative locationof such parts. Preferably, the faces of the forming plates 4 and 10 are constructedas die faces having each a series of fiat portions 12 and slanting portions 14, which slanting portions are in pairs and form together ridges 15 between the flat portions 12, the ridges 15 extending across the platesf and paral el to each other. The flat portions 12 and the ridges 15 of the plates 4 and 10 are so arranged relatively that when] the plates are laced at opposite sides of the heel-forming block, as shown in Fig.- 3, the ridges 15 of one plate are substantially opposite the center of the iat portions l2 of 'the other plate; that is, the ridges of the two plates are staggered with relation to each other. It will be noted that in arranging the strips 6 they are placed parallelly to the ridges and in each instance a strip lies about opposite the angles 13 formed between the flat portions 12 and the bases of the slanting portions 14 of the faces of the plates. After the heel-forming block has been thus built up, a sufficient pressure, which, however, is not great, is applied to the plates 4 and 10 to cause all of the separate parts to adhere to each other by reason of their gummed surfaces, and also sufficient to cause the upper and lower surfaces of the heel-forming block to be brought into intimate contact with the ridged surfaces of t-he forming plates, thus conforming the sheets to the angular surfaces of the strips 6. Thus, when the pressure is removed and the heel-forming block is withdrawn from between the forming plates, it has substantially the form and appearance shown in Fig. 4 and designated by A. It should be understood that the forming plates are merely convenient adjuncts to carrying out the method, and the heel-forming block may be shaped, as described, in any other suitable manner. Forming plates are not in any way an essential feature.

The heel-forming block A is now ready to be cut up into single heel blocks. This is preferably done by first cutting up the heelforming block by severing it in any suitable or convenient manner, on the dotted lines a, Fig. 4. This produces a number of long narrow blocks `similar to what is shown in Fig. 5 and designated by B, each of said blocks being of a width equal tothe mean length of two wedge heels and including in its structure one of the strips 6, the crosssectional area of the elongated block being, generally, that of a diamond truncated at both ends.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the block shown in Fig. 5 may be directly formed by assembling together a plurality of sheets of heel stock material, one dimension of said sheets being substantially equal to the added mean lengths of two heels of any given size, and a strip of heel stock material laid across the sheets. and securing the assembled parts together in the same manner as when larger sheets, requiring a plurality of strips, are used. Each of the elongated blocks B may then be severed by cutting in the plane indicated by the dotted line b (Fig. 5) which plane preferably extends obliquely to the faces of the block B and cuts across the strip 6 as shown at b in Fig. 5. This oblique cutting is for the purpose of providing each of the heel blocks, to be formed from the heelforming block A, with the desired pitch of heel. As is obvious, the oblique cutting also saves a large amount of stock, particularly where the pitch is marked. The severance of the block B along the line b produces two blocks similar to that indicated by C, .F ig. 6. It will be noted that each of the blocks C has incorporated in it one-half of one of the strips 6 designated as 6, the strip having been cut longitudinally through its center. The blocks C are then severed by cutting on the dotted lines c, and transversely of the strip portion 6, to produce single wedge heel blocks D such as shown in Fig. 7. In this figure, 16 designates the breast of the heel, 17 the heel seat, 18 the back of the heel, and 19 the tread face of the heel. It will be noted that each of the strips 6 has been so subdivided, in the severance of the heel-forming block into single wedge heel blocks, that each of the single heel blocks D is provided with a wedge-shaped piece or short lift 6b about midway of the height of the heel, and so located as to give the desired greater height at the back of theheel. This result is obtained because the constituent parts of the heel-forming block have initially been so placed relatively to each other and then severed along such lines that each single heel block D so produced is properly proportioned for making a wedge heel. As in the case of the heel-forming block the single heel block forms an article of commercial importance. The leatherboard manufacturer may produce the heel-forming blocks and then ship them to the shoe manufacturer who may then cut them up into single heel blocks or the leatherboard manufacturer may produce the single heel blocks and ship them to the different factories where the blocks may be finally shaped into the form suitable for the shoe manufacturers individual requirements.

The pressure placed upon the plates -l and 10 has been merely sufficient to cause the plates and strips, of which the heel-forming block A is built up, to conform to each other. that is, it has not been suflicient to compress the parts which form the heel-forming block in the manner in which heel blocks made from dinked-out heel lifts are compressed. It is desirable. however, that the heel'blocks be so compressed before being incorporated in a shoe. lt is obvious that the single heel blocks'D. which are of angular formation, cannot readily be placed in a heel compressing machine until they have been shaped, to some extent` to the general form of a commercial heel blank. The next step, therefore, in the manufacture of a heel by this method, is to shape or trim the lateral faces of the backs of the heel blocks D to a roimded surface. This mav be done by trimming on the dotted line (l, Fig. 7, which produces the rounded back surface indicated at 18EL iin Fig. 8. The heel blocks, after shaping, are ready to go to a heel compressing machine, having the ordinary form of dies, such, for instance, as that shown in the patent to E. A. Tripp, No. 776,875, of December 6th, 1904. This machine compresses the shaped heel block, shown in Fig. 8, and its dies are formed in such manner as to produce a commercial heel blank E, such as shown in Fig. 9, having a heel seat 17, a concaved lateral surface 18b at the back, and any other characteristics which may be found desirable. The heel blank E is thereafter manipulated as is usual with heel blanks made by any other method, in the steps of incorporating in the shoe and iinishing.

It is to be understood that Athe particular sequence of steps used in cutting up the block illustrated in Fig. 5 into single wedge heel blocks is immaterial. For instance, the block of Fig. 5 may be cut up into double blocks by cuts along lines corresponding to the dotted lines c of Fig. 6 and the double blocks so formed ma)v then be divided in single heel blocks by a cut oblique to the surfaces of the double block along a line corresponding to the dotted line b (Figs. 4 and 5.)

Although the method of building up a heel-forming block hereinbefore described is the preferred method, it is obvious that the heel-forming block may vary in size and may be built up in many other ways While still falling within the scope and spirit of the invention, for, as already indicated, it is not the particular number of the parts, nor is it any peculiar shape, or dimension, of the parts, which is of importance, the importance residing in the relative location ofthe parts so as to produce, after severance, a Vnumber of single heel blocks each having the desired wedge formation.

Having thus described the invention. what is claimed as new, is

1. The method of' making wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in building up a heel-forming block by assembling together a sheet of heel stock material and a plurality of strips of heel stock material laid side by side across said sheet and securing said sheet and strips together, and then severing said heel-forming block into single heel blocks by cutting through said strips in a manner to provide each single heel block with a portion of one of said strips disposed at the back of the block, the crosssectional area of said strip portion being such as to produce a Wedge formation of the block.

'2. The method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in buildingvup a heel-forming block by assembling together a sheet of heel stock material and a plurality of strips of heel stock material laid side by side across said sheet and securing said sheet and strips together, and then severing said heel-forming block into single heel blocks, each including in its structure a portion of one of said strips, by cut-- ting in planes passing between said strips and both transversely and longitudinally through said strips, the latter cut extending obliquely to the surface of said sheet to provide the pitch of the heel, the cross-sectional area of said strip portion being such as to produce the wedge formation of the block.

3. The `method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in building up a heel-forming block by assembling together a plurality of sheets of heel stock material and a plurality of strips of heel stockmaterial laid side by side between said sheets and securing said sheets and strips together, and then severing said heel-forming block into single heel blocks by cutting throughsaid strips in a manner to provide each single heel block with a portion of one of said strips disposed at'the back of the block, the cross-sectional area of said strip portion being such as to produce a wedge formation of the block.

el. The method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in building up a heel-forming block by assembling together, face to face, a pluralityof sheets of heel stock material, laying a series of strips of heel stock material side by side on said sheets, assembling a second plurality of sheets of heel stock material, face to face, on said strips and securing said sheets and strips together, then severing said heelforming block Iinto single heel blocks, each including in its structure a portion of one of said strips, by cutting in planes passing between said strips and both transverselyand longitudinally through said strips, the latter cuts passing centrally through said strips, the cross-sectional area of said strip portion being such as to produce the wedge formation of the blocks.

5. The method of making wedge heelv blocks in multiple which consists in building up a heel-forming block by assembling together, face to face, a plurality of sheets of heel stock material, laying a series of strips of heel stock material each having a lozenge-shaped cross-sectional area side byside -on said sheets, assembling a second plurality of vsheets of heel stock material, face to face, on said strips and securing said sheets and strips together, then severing said heel-forming block by cutting between said strips, longitudinally through said strips and obliquely to the surface of` the sheets to provide for the pitch of the heels, andr transversely through said strips, to form single heel blocks each having a wedge-shaped lift disposed at the back of the heel.

6. The method of making a heel-forming block for producing wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in assembling togethera plurality of sheets of heel stock material of extended area and a plurality of strips of heel stock material, each having a lozenge-shaped cross-sectional area, lai side by side between said sheets, and then securing said sheets and strips together in a manner to cause the sheets to conform to the angular surfaces of the strips.

7. The method of making wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in building up a heel-forming block by assembling together a plurality of sheets of heel stock material and a strip of heel stock material laid across said sheets, one dimension of said sheets being substantially equal to the added mean lengths of a plurality of heels of any given size, and securing said parts together, and then severing said heel-forming block into single heel blocks by cutting in planes passing both transversely and longitudinally through said strip leaving a portion of said strip in each heel block, the

latter cut extending obliquely to the sur.

faces of the sheets to provide the pitch of the heel, said strip being so proportioned relatively to the sheets of the heel-forming block as to produce the wedge formation of the single heel blocks.

i 8. The method of making a heel-forming block for producing wedge heel blocks in multiple which consists in assembling together a plurality of sheets of heel stock ma-` terial and a plurality of strips of heel stock material laid side by side across said sheets and spaced apart at regular intervals, and then securing said sheets and strips together in a manner to cause the sheets to be molded about the strips, whereby the height of the block will be greater where the strips are laid than it is between the strips so as to produce a wedgel formation at different parts of the block.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ERASTUS E. VINKLEY.

Witnesses:

ANNIE C. RICHARDSON, WARREN G. OGDEN.

op1am of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patent Washington, D. C." 

